It has an engine from the Golden Age of Aviation, an open cockpit, and a long-range cruise speed of about 90 mph. For the Seattle II, a Douglas World Cruiser reproduction, a brief first flight in December started a new chapter in a Seattle couple’s quest to fly it around the world in 2016.

Fresh off her around-the-world flight in a Pilatus, Amelia Rose Earhart spoke about her adventure at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 28, and credited the trip’s success with the support she received from the general aviation industry.

Amelia Rose Earhart finally lived up to her name. In July, she symbolically completed the around-the-world flight of her namesake, Amelia Mary Earhart, who disappeared over the South Pacific on a similar flight in 1937.

Matthew Cahn received Microsoft Flight Simulator as a Christmas gift one year. Knowing that the game had piqued his son’s interest in aviation, Matthew’s father arranged for him to go flying with a friend in November 2012. Less than a year later, Matthew is the one doing the flying. A freshman at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, Matthew, now 15, has about 14 hours logged in a Cessna 172 and plans to solo on or near his 16th birthday on Nov. 7, 2014. He hopes to follow that up a year later and earn his private pilot certificate. His goal is to become a commercial pilot. “It would be cool to fly around the country and maybe the world,” he explains.